Cut Copy's 'Zonoscope'

March 15, 2011

A desire for low-key experimentation led Cut Copy
to rent a Melbourne warehouse to record their new
album, Zonoscope. But as the Australian electropop
group started tracking and recording, the cavernous
floor itself became a sonic element. Beyond
the idle ladder used as an occasional percussion
instrument, space became a key factor in capturing
the interlacing and often tribal rhythms coming from
drum kits, bongos, drum machines, and more.

“We really wanted to employ different percussion
to make it more hypnotic and rhythmic,” says Cut
Copy frontman Dan Whiteford. “The whole idea was
to create this separate world on the record.”

The group felt that comfort led to better performances;
Whitford recorded vocals with a hand-held
condenser at home so he’d be more relaxed. The
warehouse was divided into clusters of recording
stations, including a drum room and a kit set in the
corner to achieve a more open, roomy, Jesus and
Mary Chain sound, exemplified on the booming
beats of “This Is All We’ve Got.” Like everything else,
the rhythm tracks were recorded through an RME
Fireface 800 into an iMac I7 running Cubase, but
mics and mic placement were constantly altered,
sometimes capturing the space’s natural reverb.

To record the main kit, they used an AKG D112
into JLM NV500 mic pre for the kick, and an E-V
RE20 into a JLM NV500 for the rack and the floor,
though they subbed in a Sennheiser MD 421 for
more bottom end. A Røde NT4 was set overhead,
and the snare was double-miked, with either a Shure
SM57 or RE20 on top or a Neuman KM184 on the
bottom (all run through a JLM NV500). For some of
the more open sounds, an M/S pair (Røde NTK and
a modded SM Pro MC03 going into a JLM 99v)
was set a few meters in front of the drums, and
Nady RSM-2s and Studio Projects condensers
were used as room mics.

Layering gave live percussion tracks more presence
amid the synth melodies, especially the
Yamaha CS-80 bass lines. Drum samples as well as
the kick and snare from a 909 were layered over live
recordings on “Sun God,” adding emphasis to the
already-strong rhythm section.

“The final recording isn’t that obvious,” says Whitford,
“but there’s something about adding the kick
and snare from the drum machine that creates a real
mechanical sound. We also moved it around on the
grid so it was quantized without sounding
quantized.” Patrick Sisson